Vodafone 4G launching in London on Aug. 29

Twelve more cities by the end of the year; Data in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB allowances

Vodafone UK will be launching its 4G LTE service on Aug. 29, the same day rival operator O2 will be going live with its 4G offering. At launch, Vodafone 4G will only be available in London — so unless you live in the British capital, there's not much reason to care at this stage. (By contrast, O2 says it'll launch in London, Leeds and Bradford.) Vodafone is promising LTE in a further twelve cities by the end of the year, however.

4G plans will be available from Aug. 12, Vodafone says, ahead of the switch-on on the 29th. Vodafone "Red 4G" deals will provide double the data of its existing Vodafone Red packages — which means data will come in 2, 4 and 8-gigabyte bundles.

As for pricing, existing Vodafone customers with a 4G-ready device will be able to upgrade to 4G for £5 per month, and get three months of unlimited data through its "data test drive" promotion. SIM-only 4G deals are set to start at £26 per month for unlimited calls and texts and 2GB of data, and increase to up to 8GB for £36 per month. 4G contracts with a device attached will start at £34 per month for 2GB and run as high as £57 for 8GB, depending on the device. So consumers hoping for substantially better value than 4G incumbent EE will likely be disappointed, though Voda's SIM-free deals do provide a little bit more data.

Vodafone is also giving 4G subscribers free Spotify Premium or Sky Sports Mobile as part of their plan — a significant move since EE already offers free streaming to its customers.

We'll likely learn more about the Vodafone's 4G launch in the weeks ahead. Until then, let us know whether you'll be hopping on the 4G bandwagon down in the comments.

Reader comments

Vodafone 4G launching in London on Aug. 29

If they honour the 20% corporate discounts on the new 4G contracts i might be interested. Do you know if they'll automatically be adjusting the 3G price / data allowances for existing customers or is this for new customers only?

We, as a collective, must resist and we must protest. If we all boycott these plans from the likes of Vodafone, EE and I will imagine O2 won't want to be left out of the "Wring as much cash out of them as possible" party going on right now.
These ridiculous prices, where do they get off? maybe these carriers will rethink their pricing policies if there is little uptake.
Hell I'll just stick with Wi-Fi for now until you all come back with some sensible pricing